‘Nonsense:’ Qantas boss hits out over accusation of government influence

Outgoing Qantas boss Alan Joyce has rejected allegations the federal government is in his pocket, after an application from Qatar Airways to add flights to Australia was rejected without explanation. Qantas rival Virgin Australia has a close partnership with Qatar Airways and would have benefited from additional flights through its code-share relationship with the airline. Joyce said he had often opposed the Albanese government, including whether to introduce multi-employer bargaining, and the outcome had not gone in the airline’s favour. “The chief executive of Qantas or Virgin will always have a relationship with the government,” Joyce said on Thursday. “There are a lot of things I disagree with the government on, as well as lots we do agree on. That’s the way it works. It is just nonsense that we have unbelievable influence and I don’t know how that mindset has developed. If the government was doing the bidding of Qantas it wouldn’t have gone with multi-employer bargaining which is a much bigger issue. The prime minister had a go at me when we grounded the airline in 2011. To think that Qantas has this out-weighted influence on them is nonsense.”<br/>